IDF Concludes Intense Three Weeks of Combat in Jabaliya, Northern Gaza

The IDF announced that the troops of the 98th Division completed their mission in eastern Jabaliya and began preparation for continued operations in the Gaza Strip. During the operation, rescuing the bodies of 7 hostages, hundreds of Hamas terrorists were eliminated and 10 kilometers of a subterranean tunnel network were destroyed.  

The combat teams of the 7th, 460th and Paratroopers Brigades under the 98th Division operated in eastern Jabaliya above ground and underground, in an urban, dense area rigged with explosives. The Hamas terrorist organization turned the civilian area into a fortified combat compound and fired toward the troops from sheltered areas and schools, and built an underground terrorist network from within civilian buildings.

Above ground, the troops eliminated hundreds of terrorists in intense combat and close-quarters encounters and destroyed dozens of terrorist infrastructure and combat compounds. The troops located hundreds of weapons, including firearms, explosives, grenades, ammunition and more. In addition, a number of significant weapons production sites were located and destroyed. 

As part of dismantling the capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, the soldiers raided a large number of rocket-launching compounds and destroyed launchers ready for use.

Underground, the troops located, investigated and destroyed, with the cooperation of the soldiers of the Yahalom Unit, more than ten kilometers of an underground tunnel network. The soldiers neutralized explosives in the tunnels and located within them weapons and intelligence information about the Hamas terrorist organization. As part of the underground operation, the Commander of the Beit Hanoun Battalion and other terrorists who were with him were eliminated.

In operations above and below ground, the troops of the division rescued seven bodies of hostages – Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin, Yitzchak Gelernter, Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez HY”D – and returned them for kevura in Eretz Yisroel. All seven were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Simchas Torah and their bodies were kidnapped to Gaza.

In the fire effort, directed by the 98th Division Fire Control Center, more than 200 aerial strikes were carried out in close proximity to the operating troops, during which dozens of terrorists were eliminated, most of them at the command level in Hamas and dozens of terrorist infrastructure and weapon warehouses were destroyed.

The troops of the 98th Division have completed their mission in eastern Jabaliya and remain combat-ready and are preparing to continue operations in the Gaza Strip.